gainful employment

In this post I will (obviousely) be covering finding and keeping a job.

Getting and keeping a job CAN be a difficult thing to do, but with a little effort, it can be achieved and even enjoyed.

I have fortunately been able to get a job in the art industry. It affords me a working environment which is generally quiet, and sometimes I get to work from home.
However, I have had a lot of jobs in the past which weren't so accomedating for me.
I have also worked in Auto Garages, as a house framer, a roofer, carpet layer, and a ditch digger. just to name a few. Most of my jobs have been utilitarian, and not exactly quiet; and some days, I had a difficult ttime. But I wore ear-plugs, and I got by.

I had these jobs for a couple of reasons:

(1) I am a very hard worker, but I am very poor at retaining direction. I also have a hard time "multitasking"
(2) because of my poor people skills. because I bomb out of interviews, and I couldn't really work well interracting with customers, or even coworkers for that matter. I also get easily confused, and worked up durring one-on-one interaction.

Looking for a job can be very overwhelming, It can be hard to figure out where to begin, for what type of job you are qualified, andhow to figure out where you belong.

The key is to figure out what you can handle, what your strong suits are, and what you are capable of putting up with every day. For example, are you more likely to be okay in retail, office work, physical labor, etc.

Some of the more common things I have come up against, which I reccomend thinking about when looking for a job include:

- Can you handle flourescent lighting?
-are you sensitive to sound?
-are you good with human interaction?
-are you particularly good with numbers, or do you have some other trait unique to you? ( eg. I retain automotive information like a sponge)
-are you easily distracted
-Are you good with kids
-do you have particular clothing needs that might not be acceptable with a uniform of some sort.

Once you establish a criteria, it can make narrowing down possible jobs much easier. You will inevitably need to make comprimises with some of your criteria, but If you can figure out which issues are easier with which to cope it will make the entire process and experience, much easier.

With the jobs I have chosen, for the most part, I am able to work alone, and not have to remember a lot of direction. They are repetitive, and perfect for me. I worked those jobs to put myself through school, (which is another topic for another post) But I was able to work hard through school and now I have a job that accomodates ALL of my quirks and needs.

If you have any Questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask, I'll do my best to help.